r rhe Elgar Society JOURNAL \ NOVEMBER 1994 CONTENTS Page Editorial 299 Articles Elgar eind Percy Pitt - Part I 300 Violin Sonatas by Elgar and Ireland 315 Birthplace News 318 Little Langleys 320 Random Ramblings... 321 Concert Diary 326 Record Reviews 329 Branch Reports 340 Letters 341 Subscriptions Back Cover The Editor does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by contributors nor does the Elgar Society accept responsibility for such views. The cover portrait is reproduced by kind permission of RADIO TIMES ELGAR SOCIETY JOURNAL ISSN 0143-1269 The Elgar Society Journal 115 MONKHAMS AVENUE. WOODFORD GREEN. ESSEX 1G8 OER 081- 506 0912 EDITORIAL Vol.8. No.7 November 1994 The furore over the proposed Elgar Centre at Broadheath has received considerable pubUcity over the last few months and. with the possible exception of those Uving overseas. members will be famUiar with the situation. Newspapers, delighting in conflict and controversy, have seized upon it, and it has also received coverage on radio and television. The arguments for and against its building are many and complex, and beyond the scope of this Editorial. Not all comment has been helpful or informative, and despite the beUef held by many that the only bad pubUcity is no pubUcity, 1 am not so sure. There has been bad blood before regarding Elgar matters during my twenty-five years’ membership of the Society; yet over recent years careful and peiinstaking work towards reconcUiation has been undertaken (by such as Andrew NeiU) and it would be tragic indeed if this were to be undone. Whatever the final outcome, 1 hope that we can avoid iU feeling and factions in the Elgar world. 1 have been accused of withholding information on this subject in the Journal. On the contrary, 1 have in fact pubUshed aU that 1 have received, including a recent letter from one of the protagonists of the proposed Elgar Centre for English Music in Malvern. This virtual absence of comment from Society members can presumably be explained by one of three reasons : a lack of knowledge; apathy; or a general approval of the plans and confidence in the Trustees, as expressed in a motion at the AGM a couple of years ago. The Society’s stated purpose is to honour the name of Elgar and to promote a wider interest in his Ufe and music. This is a vast and chaUenging undertaking which 1 trust wiU contUiue to be the focus of the Society’s activities whatever may or may not happen in Crown East Lane. 1 can end in no better fashion than to quote Jerrold Northrop Moore, from his Envoy to Raymond Monk’s Elgar Studies : ”My hope is for us all to remember constantly the generous spirit of the man who devoted his Ufe to creating the music which has brought us together. Never lose the sound of that generosity". GEOFFREY HODGKINS 299 ELGAR AND PERCY PITT Geoffrey Hodgkins and Ronald Taylor Part I (Pitt was a good friend and loyal supporter to Elgar for over thirty years. The correspondence between ' the two men can be found in British Library Egerton MS 3303. It is not complete, but fills in some interesting gaps in our knowledge of the two men. Letters written by Elgar are reproduced by kind permission of the Sir Edward Elgar Will Trust]. Percy Pitt was bom in London in 1869. Percy Pirr He showed musical ability at an early age, but this was discouraged by his fcimily, who sent him to school first in France and then in Germany. They felt that a knowledge of languages would be an asset for a lawyer, their own choice of a profession for him. However they eventually permitted him to pursue music as a career: he studied in Leipzig (where Delius was a fellow-student) and Munich (under Rheinberger), and spent some time in Berlin, gaining a wide working knowledge of European music, eind of opera in particular. He returned to England in 1893 and, like Elgar some two or three years earlier, found London stony ground for an aspiring composer/musician. Eventually - largely through the good offices of Henry Wood - he became involved in the Promenade Concerts at the new Queen’s Hall, and in 1896 was appointed permanent accompanist there. He made valuable contacts, not least because his knowledge of languages enabled him to converse with foreign composers and performers who spoke no English. He continued to compose, and like Elgar, wrote specifically for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897; his Coronation March achieved a measure of success. It is not clear precisely when Pitt first met Elgar, though the former’s biographer states that it was at Queen’s Hall'; it could well have been at a concert in October 1898 when the orchestral dances from the Bavarian Highlands were given. Although London based, Htt was not part of the musical establishment, and had 'J. Daniel Chamier, Percy Pitt of Covent Carden and the BBC (Arnold, 1938) p.74 300 been educated abroad. The struggle of an outsider to make a mark in the musical world would therefore be a strong common bond between the two men. They certainly met again in May 1899 at Robert Newman’s ‘London Musical Festival’ when works by both of them were included: Pitt’s Hohenlinden, a ballad for male voices and orchestra, and Elgar’s "Meditation" from The Light of Life. The following month Elgar’s reputation was greatly advanced by the successful premiere of the Enigma Variations; and he was completing a new work for the Norwich Festival, the song-cycle Sea Pictures. It was the practice for the preliminary rehearsals of provincial festivals to be held in London, as that was the most convenient place to assemble the performers. Pitt attended one of the final rehearsals of Sea Pictures at the Royal Academy of Music on 29 September. lfos.87-81 211, Camden Road, London N.W. 4/X/99 My dear Elgar, I couldn't w/ait to see you at the R.A.M on Friday last altho' I much wanted to do so & take an opportunity of congratulating you on the "Sea Pictures" - They are simply splendid, full of life & colour : as for your orchestra - beautiful! I only hope that the clever "crickets" & the Festival public will appreciate them & discover their many beauties - Then, your success should be great - Glad to see that Richter is repeating the Variations : that man has got good tastel I shall be there. Excuse hurried scrawl & Believe me, with best wishes Always sincerely yours Percy Pitt Richter’s repeat of the Variations took place at St James’ Hall on 23 October. As Elgar’s fame increased, it seems likely that he began to receive commissions to write new works; in a letter to Jaeger on 9 September he wrote: "I’ve declined - would Pitt like to take it on????????"* One work which loomed large was the ‘Gordon’ Symphony, initially promised for the Three Choirs in 1899 : Pitt, like many of Elgar’s friends, was keen for him to write it, but of course it was not to be. Pitt’s Ballade for Violin was given its first performance the following February by Pitt’s friend, the great Ysaye. The "Symphonic Poem" to which he refers could well have been Cirvderella. Ifos. 89-90] 211, Camden Road, NW 7/XI/99 My dear Elgar, Many thanks for yours & apologies for having kept you so long without an answer. I have been indulging in a mild attack of influenza & a beastly cold, caught at the last Richter Concert. I was glad to hear yr. Variations again & add my mite to the great reception you had. I *Moore, Elgar and his Publishers, p.l38 301 am very ‘hungry’ for that Full Score Novello is bringing out and am saving a place on my shelves next to Richard Strauss. By the way, you said you liked the look of my Violin Ballade & I shall therefore ‘bombard’ you with a copy of the same these days. Today, I am ‘permitting myself’ (German expression) to send you a youthful indiscretion : you may look at the music while Mrs. Elgar reads the verses. Many thanks for the invitation, at present I cannot take advantage of it as I am ‘worrying’ a Symphonic Poem but at some future date - out of holiday time - I shall be so bold... I hope it goes well with you and that the music is kind - How about that Symphony? With many cordial greetings to Mrs. Elgar & yourself Believe me Yours sincerely (...and with a sneezel) Percy Pitt Pitt had met the French violinist and conductor Charles Lamoureux at the Queen’s Hall where he had first appeared in 1896. Lamoureux’s orchestra had shared the twelve concerts in the London Musical Festival with the Queen’s Hall Orchestra the previous spring. He died on 21 December 1899 at the age of sixty-five. [fos.91-21 211 Camden Road, NW Jan 4 1900 My dear Elgar, Thanks for your ‘Prosit Neujahrl’ duly received & announcement re ‘Cinderella’. Am sorry you tell me you've had a poor time - What is it, appreciations or dollars lacking? If you will be so beastly sincere in your art (accept congratulations on this head & forgive the low expression!) you won't become a millionaire but you will get credit - and you ARE getting it. I've had the ‘Flue’ & a poor time likewise, a promised performance (Liege) knocked into the proverbial cocked-hat - the death of dear Lamoureux, ditto ditto - ah I me, I think this is a poor sort of game...